Tonight I enjoyed a fabulous book launch in Stratford-Upon-Avon, at the 
Emmapress received Arts Council Funding for a poetry tour and have set up events around the UK to promote the launch of the book. You can find out more here
I arrived after a major de-tour of the town (I have never needed a sat-nav more!) fortunately I wasn’t late for the event and even managed to get a seat!
I recognised a few people in the room – proof the world of poetry is a small one. There were lots of students from the Shakespeare Institute – supporting Richard O’Brien, it reminded me of haydays (uni days) that I like to pretend were not long ago, but are actually counted on nearly 2 sets of fingers now!
I enjoyed poetry from the anthology by three contributors;
Ruth Wiggins 
Rachel Piercey 
Richard O’Brien 
I had seen online that there were open mic opportunities and earlier on today some of them had not been filled. I had submitted work to the anthology and had it deemed too erotic, the poem I chose may have come down on the emotive side of erotica rather than mildly erotic. It is about dancers and as an ex-dancer/performer myself I have always read the charged bodies as sexually placed on stage – often choreographers play to the roles of sexuality – in fact (back in the nearly counting on 2 sets of hands days) I wrote a dissertation on the role of gender and sexuality in performance.
People spoke to me after about my poem, which I found very touching (no pun intended!)
It seems the dance – eroticism is only in my mind maybe…
I sat with a group of strangers and the whole 1st half I felt I recognised someone at the table. After the interval and after we had both performed our poems, I plucked up courage… I had seen Geraldine reading her poetry at the Ikon Gallery (Birmingham Literature Festival) at the Art in the Heart event! And have one of her poems on my bookshelf! 
Thanks to Patrick and Geraldine for your wonderful company at the end of the evening. 
And to Emma for taking the risk with un-vetted open mic poets – who brought their own mix of mildly erotic word shaping to the evenings launch!
awritersfountain 